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Cedar Shoals proposal rejected

Posted: Friday, February 12, 1999

By Tracie NewtonStaff Writer

The continued wrangling over plans for a new Cedar Shoals High School brought one student to tears Thursday evening as she urged Clarke County Board of Education members to understand the students' needs.

''Nobody knows what's going on,'' student Latrice Rozier told board members during their monthly meeting Thursday. ''That school has more health problems than you can imagine.''

Poor ventilation and a leaky roof have resulted in the growth of mold throughout much of the school, built 20 years ago.

For months, students, parents and others interested in the planned local sales tax-funded construction of a $20 million-plus new Cedar Shoals High School have watched as everything from lawsuits to a school board election have played havoc with school planning.

A lawsuit still under review in the state court system, filed by three Athens-Clarke residents, contends that school officials misled taxpayers about the cost of the new school, and that school officials should have filed an environmental impact statement with the state before beginning land-clearing activities at the school site.

The school is being built at 1300 Cedar Shoals Drive, site of the existing school.

Also, board member Anne Cooper has consistently questioned the need for construction of a new school, suggesting that the existing building could be modified, at a significant cost savings.

And at Thursday's meeting, board members debated -- but eventually rejected -- member Jim Ponsoldt's suggestion that an existing auditorium be saved and renovated, and that a new gymnasium be included in the plans.

The new gymnasium is currently listed as an option for the new Cedar Shoals project, after board members noted some time ago that the existing school includes a gym.

''We saw (a need for additional space) in special ed and other needs -- we decided to keep the gym out of the main budget,'' School Superintendent Lucian Harris said Thursday night.

Both of Ponsoldt's suggestions were defeated by 6-2 board votes.

Board member Walt Denero joined Ponsoldt in a vote in support of the proposed changes Tuesday, with Sidney Anne Waters, Svea Bogue, Jackie Saindon, David Nunnally, Vernon Payne and Cooper rejecting those changes.

The school's architect, Roy Denney of Atlanta-based Southern Architects and Engineers, told board members last month that he believes the auditorium is not worth saving, and that salvaging it would save little money.

Ponsoldt said he believes it's important to have both high schools on equal footing in terms of athletic facilities.

''To see that Cedar Shoals is being treated as a second class citizen is beyond belief,'' he said Thursday.

A new gym is currently under construction at Clarke Central High School, and the school's existing gym will be retained as space for physical education classes.